FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: Gender equity series EQUALIZE launched with Natalie Portman, Ruby Tui and Dame Jacinda Ardern

With the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand breaking records across the board, media organisation New Zealand Story Group have launched a new speaker series to celebrate women in sport and promote gender equity.

The EQUALIZE series launched in July 2023 and hosts a number of free speaking events that feature 50 female speakers, including Angel City FC President Julie Uhrman, Angel City FC co-founder Natalie Portman, Black Ferns rugby player Ruby Tui, and former New Zealand Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern among others across New Zealand and the world throughout the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

On Tuesday (August 14), Natalie Portman, Dame Jacinda Ardern, Ruby Tui and FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura came together in Auckland for a discussion on the equity of women in sport, culture and business, as part of the EQUALIZE series. 

“Sport is such a spectacle and to have those women be extraordinary on such a grand stage accelerates the conversation so quickly,” said Angel City FC co-founder Natalie Portman.

“Seeing the last Women’s World Cup and seeing how my son idolised these female athletes, he wanted a Rapinoe jersey the same way he wanted a Messi jersey - it was exactly the same in his mind. There was no difference. And it was my bias that I was surprised by. And then I was like, this is culture changing. This changes a generation in a heartbeat.”

In 2020, Portman became one of the co-founders and investors in the majority female ownership group that was awarded a new franchise in the NWSL. The club, Angel City FC, began playing in the American league in 2022 and has a number of high profile owners including Serena Williams, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Garner, Eva Longoria and Uzo Aduba. Former members of the USWNT including Mia Hamm, Rachel Van Hollebeck and Shannon Boxx are also investors.

Since her involvement in the club, Portman has been extremely vocal on the importance of gender equality within sport and the wider world.

It was during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 that co-hosts New Zealand secured their first ever win at a Women’s World Cup. 

The Ferns beat former World Champions Norway in their final fixture Group A with a 1-0 win, and also opened the tournament with a 0-0 draw to Switzerland. 

“Oh my word, that opening match. I felt slightly ridiculous because at the end of that game, I started to cry and I did not stop crying for quite some time,” revealed former New Zealand Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern. “And when we went down to the dressing room, what a treat to be able to see the team and you know I just said to them, you cannot know in this moment in time the impact that you’d have for the game and for women and girls and sport in New Zealand. It’s just incredible. They are part of a revolution and what a revolution it is.”

The EQUALIZE series has been funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to help raise the profile of women and girls in sports in hope to harness the legacy of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.